<p>papertiger - welcome to the new reality. The combination of Bright Futures for Florida residents, the popularity of the Florida pre-paid college program, the fact the state of Florida has the first or second lowest public university tuition in the country, the sorry state government in Florida making major education cuts the past 5 years, a much higher percentage of people and especially females attending college, an increasing state population, and the impact of the economy forcing more students to stay in their home state is the perfect storm of huge application increases. </p>
<p>Trust me, UF was relatively easy to get in when I went back in the 80’s too - but take a look at the college-weighted GPA and test scores of the average freshman class at UF & FSU, and I think you’ll see how competitive it’s truly become even from 5 years ago.</p>